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Xenologue 3: Capital City Onaw
The group of time-travelers, despite being split up, knows that Onaw is their eventual destination, something made clear to them by the native Taguel leading them through the thick of the forest. Their guides, while dashing madly through the shrubbery, explain that if they make it to the capital before their attackers do, they can get the newly-crowned rulers to put a stop to the bloodshed. It’s a solid plan, but one that relies on everything going perfectly. And naturally, it doesn’t. The first sign of trouble comes when the echo of a sword hits the ears of the smaller group making their escape. The Taguel girls all skid to a halt, knocking their riders off their backs as they revert to their human forms. Jayde: Someone’s following us? Pika: I wouldn’t be surprised if they were. We were kind of slow on leaving. The two look over at Joos, who is brushing leaves off of himself after having been thrown into them. Joos: What’s the look for? I couldn’t let Jayde go on her own. Jayde: You totally held us up! Leanne: Can you three shut your mouths for a second? We’re trying not to get caught here! The dark-haired girl, holding a shaking, fur-covered hand to her lips, points in the direction of the sound with her other hand. Leanne: There’s only two of them, but they’re dirty pillagers who killed our friends! We’re not letting them kill us too! The younger version of Signele nods, listening to her sister talk in her hushed whisper. When she finishes taking, both girls go back to their beast forms, taking an attack stance. Young Signele: You three get out of here! We’ll handle these guys! Leanne: And we’ll do it without anyone else dying! Jayde readies herself to listen to the command that’s been given, transforming back into Taguel form like the others, but her father jumps on her back and holds her down where she stands, unwilling to let her proceed. Joos: I don’t think so, we’re not leaving them here without helping. Can you think about what your mother’s reaction to this would be if she found out you’d abandoned them? Jayde: Yeah, but I don’t really think they need us. Joos: We’re not leaving them. Young Signele: Ugh, why did older me get with someone so…stubborn? Leanne: Don’t worry about that, let’s just get going. Before they can dart off, Pika lunges towards Leanne, hopping onto her back while the rabbit isn’t expecting it. Pika: If you’re leaving them behind, you’re definitely not leaving me here too. I may not have a bow, but I’m still an excellent shot. Even with rocks. Leanne: Why are you on me to tell me this? You’re still a hindrance to us killing those guys. Pika: Just let me go with you. Footsteps echo nearby, followed with another clanging of a sword. Leanne lurches forward, ready to move, but Pika grabs onto her ears. Pika: I said, let me go with you! Leanne: There’s no “going” anywhere at this point, you useless human! We’ve been caught! Pika: Useless…? She climbs off Leanne’s back and the Taguel girl turns human-form once more, standing eye-to-eye with the archer. They stare in silence for a moment, the sounds of the breathing done by the rest of their group (and the grumbles from one of the other rabbits) the only noise until a voice belonging to someone not among them distracts them all. It’s not a discernable word they hear, prompting action. Young Signele: We’re fucked! Hello, whoever’s there to kill us! We’re an easy target! Jayde: Oh my god, why are you giving up like that? Don’t just invite bad guys over here, make it a challenge! The echoing of their voices while in their Taguel forms is not helpful in masking their whereabouts, and soon two men come poking into their piece of the woods, both with swords in hand. The younger Signele raises onto her back legs before charging for them, dodging their blades as she tries to get an attack on them, but is unsuccessful in landing any damage. However, that doesn’t stop one of the men from coming closer to her as she rears up for a second attack. He drops his sword when he sees her staring him down, ready for her charge, and raises his hands in a defensive pose. Karts: H-hey there, pretty rabbit thing. I’m not gonna hurt you, promise. The other man, throwing his sword down as well, gives the speaker a surprised look. Lucas: After the talk we just had, you’re going to try and talk to these things? Karts: We’re not here to kill them, so yeah? Young Signele: Not here…to kill us? But… She gets down on all fours and bounds over to them, Leanne (with Pika still right beside her) flanking her right away. Even not in beast form, for Leanne, and without a weapon, for Pika, they plan on playing support with Jayde and her father still behind them for defense. Young Signele: That doesn’t make sense. You came into our home and killed everyone there! Karts: We did? Lucas: No, you’ve got it all wrong there, rabbit. Our friends did. We came for…something else. Something I don’t know if you could provide—but she can. While Signele scoffs at the rude reference to her species, Lucas lets his eyes fall to Pika, the closest actual human, who’s staring at him with distrust. He makes a hand gesture for her to come closer, and she shakes her head. Pika: No way, creep. Can we get out of here? Leanne: You can get away from me and let me protect my sister without your help. Pika: Not happening. Rather than forcing the issue, Leanne sighs and backs away, Pika still right beside her. Seeing the opportunity to get herself involved, Jayde squirms out from under her dad and charges up next to the younger version of her mother. Jayde: Ooh, intruders? Can I help my little mom out and take care of them? Young Signele: Why are you strangers taking part in this? Get away! Instead of listening, Jayde just turns back into her human form, and Lucas’ attention is drawn from Pika’s retreating form to the newly-changed rabbit standing before him. Lucas: Well hello there, beautiful. Where’d you come from? Jayde: Uh, from back there? She turns points back to where her dad is standing, his focus on her and how this strange man is stepping closer to her without any provocation. When she turns back, Lucas is right in front of her, his hand brushing one of her long ears to behind her shoulder. Jayde: Who said you could touch me? Lucas: It’s just being friendly. Why, I had no idea that Taguels could be so stunning. To where they’d retreated to, Leanne gags and Pika covers her mouth to keep herself from laughing at the flattery. Leanne: He was staring right at me and he didn’t say that. Pika: More like, he was staring right at me. Leanne: Me! Pika: You’re wrong, sister! The two girls bicker, getting in each others faces and arguing. Some pushing happens, them both getting knocked into trees a time or two, but it doesn’t distract anyone else from what they’re doing. Oblivious to what is happening right beside him, Karts also approaches the Taguel before him without being told he can, and in fear of what he might do to her, the young Signele turns back to her human form, grabs his sword off the ground, and shakily holds it in front of her to keep him away. Young Signele: I d-don’t want you coming any closer, got it? Karts: I’m not going to hurt you! Young Signele: Your friends hurt my friends and family, how am I supposed to trust you? Karts: Uh, because you’ve got my sword? She looks at what’s being held in her hands, then up to the friendly face of the man standing before her. Young Signele: Yeah, I’m not buying that. Karts: How am I supposed to attack you when you have my sword? Her eyes drift back to the sword, her gaze narrowing as it tracks across the blade that’s clearly been used to chop down trees. With a sigh, she tosses it behind her, letting it hit the forest floor a few feet from where she stands. Young Signele: All you humans, you’ve got a million more weapons like that. Karts: No I don’t, that’s my only one. Young Signele: Two weapons. Karts: I’m a healer. I don’t use two weapons. To prove his point, he pulls a worn staff from behind him, it showing its usage. Karts: Now can we, like, talk or something? You’ve got to have a cool story behind you. She thinks about taking up his offer, but is interrupted by a loud, bellowing scream. Beside them, Jayde has bitten the hand that’s gotten too close to her, and Lucas is not enjoying the feel of her rabbitty teeth digging into his flesh. Lucas: What’s that for, you furry beast? Don’t you like the attention I was giving you? Jayde’s response is muffled, as she makes him scream louder by biting harder. Needing to get away, he kicks at her, causing her to let go in surprise. Lucas: Get your nasty teeth out of my hand! Karts, my friend, please give me a quick heal? Jayde: Heal him and I bite you next. No one helps a guy who does that and gets out. Lucas: Ignore the overgrown rodent who wouldn’t let a fellow get a feel and heal me, damn it! I can’t be bleeding out here! Karts: I…don’t think I want to heal you right now, Lucas. By the sounds of it, you deserved what you got. Lucas: Er, no I didn’t? She’s standing here, chest out, prime for the touching! Even with a bloodied hand, Lucas mimes touching Jayde’s chest again, causing her to transform into Taguel form once more and tackle him down. She gives him a few light scratches, nothing deadly, before her father comes to her side and pulls her off of him, not letting go of her until she’s back to her normal self. Joos: Jayde, you can’t just attack someone like that. Jayde: Dad, were you listening to him? He was objectifying me! I can’t let a guy do that. Joos: Attacking him’s not the way to handle it. Jayde: But Dad, if anyone’s got the right to objectify me, it’s me! Not some slimeball like him! She casts a glare down at Lucas, who’s checking himself and the new injuries he’s sustained, all while begging Karts to heal him. The other man, still holding his healing staff, is continuing to refuse, choosing to talk to the younger Signele over helping his partner. Jayde: All I’m saying is, he deserved what he got. Joos: I disagree with that, but okay. Let’s just get away, try to start making a plan for what to do when everyone’s ready to move on from…whatever this is. He waves a hand at the current scene, with the man on the ground and the other man still talking to the hesitant rabbit-girl, before looking over to where Leanne and Pika are still in each other’s faces. They don’t seem to be arguing any longer, their conversation turned quiet if still intense, and he pays it no mind. It isn’t until later, when they’re re-grouped and the two intruders have since moved on, claiming to being back to their “mapmaking,” that anything is brought up about it. Pika: Seriously, guys, Leanne’s like me in Taguel form. Leanne: And Pika, wow, I never thought I’d find a human I actually bonded with! Pika: Doesn’t help that she’s basically a furry me. Leanne: And her a fleshy me! Young Signele: Oh please just shut it, you two. We all don’t need to talk about how great others are. Leanne: You’re only jealous that the weirdo that talked to you ended up, uh, still being kind of weird. At least my weirdo ended up being just like me. Joos: I don’t mean to interrupt you girls, but maybe we should work on getting going? Jayde and I were trying to figure out the way to get to the meeting point from here, but we don’t exactly know the scenery. Jayde: Yeah, that’s what it is. The two Domain natives look between each other for a moment, before both getting into their Taguel forms and turning to face a grove of trees much like all the others surrounding their location. Leanne: Onaw’s this way. Even with distractions, we still will beat the others there, but only if we hurry. Pika, my friend, jump on and let’s go. Without hesitation, Pika does as she’s told and the two bolt off into the trees. Young Signele: Looks like you two are following me. Jayde: We do that a lot. Young Signele: You do…? Joos: Not you you, but older you. We follow her a lot. Jayde: Right, should have clarified that. She transforms as well and her father climbs on her back, and the three set off in the same direction Pika and Leanne had moments before. ---- Back at the site of the bloody Taguel massacre, Gideon and Audi are still walking around, surveying all the damage that has been brought by their party. Every few steps, there are piles of fur and blood to be wary of, and lying across the ground are Taguel in various states of dying. One in particular, with a nasty head wound, calls for Gideon in her last moments. Taguel: You, human, come here. Gideon: Oh, what’s this? One of your folk summoning me? Why, are you to praise me for what excellent fighters I have under my control? Taguel: You needlessly killed us, sir. Gideon: There was a need that we acted upon. Taguel: And what might that have been? He kneels down beside her, taking note of the pain and suffering in her eyes as her eyelids try their hardest to stay open. Gideon: We needed to clear the surrounding area for our mapmaking endeavor. Taguel: Maps? You killed us for maps? Why, you ba— Before she can finish her sentence, Audi lobs a spear at her, striking her in the throat and silencing her forever. Audi: Job well done. Surprised you didn’t kill that beast sooner. Gideon: I was merely having a conversation with it before it died. Audi: Why, so you can feel sorry for the thing? Heh, they don’t need our pity. We’ve proven they’re weak and we’re strong, we don’t need to pander to them in their last moments. Standing back up, Gideon watches as Audi kicks at another dying Taguel, one writhing in pain from the injuries she’d sustained in the attack. Audi: Isn’t that right, you beastie? Gideon: Audi, please refrain from that. Taguels are living beings too. Audi: Growing soft on them already? Jeez Gideon, you’re not exactly fit for leading us anymore, now that we’ve killed a whole tribe of monsters, huh? He ignores her and walks to the second Taguel’s side, kneeling down beside her as well. With her last amounts of strength, she reaches for him, and he takes her hand, stroking the fur on it with one thumb. Gideon: There, there, sweet Taguel. What’s your name? She hesitates to speak, her voice barely above a whisper when the words come, and due to the sounds of Audi cackling beside him and the moans and groans of others dying, he’s unable to hear her. Gideon: Repeat yourself. No creature deserves to die without recognition. There is no time for repetition, as Audi kicks her again and her life leaves her with one last breath, no name to be heard on it. Audi: What are you even doing, Gideon? Treating them like soldiers? Gideon: Trying to atone for what we’ve done. Audi: You gave the command here, mister Great Knight. He brushes his hand over the Taguel’s lifeless eyes, closing them with his palm, before standing up and sighing. Gideon: And in the moments since that command, I’ve begun to realize how ill-informed I was before making that command. Audi: You regret killing them, huh? Gideon: They did nothing to deserve this. Audi: Well, soon enough we’ll have all the reason in the world to kill all the Taguel on this damn continent. They’re going to attack us for this. Gideon: Rightfully so. Audi: And do you think the mainland will appreciate their mapmakers being slaughtered by savage beasts? I don’t think so. It’s kill or be killed, Gideon, and we’re taking the offensive. She heads back to where they’d entered the area, her pegasus waiting for her on the other side of the foliage wall. He is slow to follow, his eyes wandering around the homes they’d ransacked and the Taguel they’d killed—only for his focus to land on the opened door to one little home. Knowing that time is wasting, he ducks away for a second, entering to see that blood had been shed inside; more importantly, however, is what he sees on one of the walls of the home: a picture of four young Taguel girls, each with her name beside her. Kids were massacred there because of his decision to enter. He directly and indirectly had the blood of children on his hands. The faces of those young girls, all smiling and so innocent, would have a hard time ever leaving his mind, he was certain of it. ---- Somewhere deep in the forest, not all that far outside of Onaw, the rest of the group of time-travelers stops to take a breather, having not stopped running since they split from the other half of the group. At least, those with beast forms hadn’t stopped running… Maggie: Boy, if I’d known flying through here was so dangerous, I wouldn’t have been willing to do it. I didn’t hurt you too bad, did I Kayla? Kayla: No way, I’m fine. Just a few branches in the face, that’s all. Chelle: Remind me when I see little you again that I need to tell her she gets to really know a dragon someday. Signele: What, you jealous? Chelle: You wish. I’m sure I get to know thirty of them. Signele awkwardly laughs, not sure how she should respond to the insinuation that Chelle gets to live that kind of life. The others, all chattering amongst themselves and making sure that no one’s harmed from either the run or from the ride, stop in dead silence when they hear weapons being used somewhere behind them. Lizze: How did they…? Blake: Is now the time to ask questions, Lizze? You need to run to Onaw and let your fellow leaders know what’s happening! Lizze: Er, right! Please, for the love of everything, everyone here better make it into the city exactly as they are right now, or else I am going to be severely disappointed in you all! Especially you, Joanne! As she runs off, the one person directly named gasps at what she’d just heard. Joanne: Why, all we did on the run was talk about different styles of books. I never knew a love of literature would make a Taguel in a position of power respect me! Josh: I wish I had been allowed to ride on her instead of whom I was saddled with. Why, can you just imagine the conversations we could have had in that time? Joanne: Maybe you shouldn’t say that so loudly, Josh… Behind the mage, Blake has turned from watching the young ruler of The Domain run into the distance to focusing on what had just been said. His ears twitch at the expression of unhappiness from Josh regarding his riding situation. Blake: Did you not like our talk about reading, huh? Or about my dual mastery of beast and sword? What a waste. Josh: No, no, it was marvelous, I was merely musing about the missed opportunity. Bohl: Father, get your mouth out of your foot, if you will. Chelle: Hey, wait a second, Signele? Why didn’t you let anyone ride on your back? Signele’s whole body tenses at the question, another thing she doesn’t want to answer with someone who has no idea of what’s to come. Signele: I…figured letting my friends ride on you guys and talking to you all about life and stuff would be more interesting. Nothing personal. Chelle: Eh, makes sense to me. Come on now, everyone. We’re not that far from Onaw. Blake: Yeah, no. Not moving until the leaders get here. Chelle: As if Lizze will lead them here. Signele: No, we should go. We shouldn’t wait around. Chelle: Thank you, voice of reason. The two ladies, along with most of the rest of the group, start heading in the direction Lizze had. Blake, however, stays right where he is, and grabs Josh with one hand, the other reaching for the sword attached to his back, to prove his point. Blake: Nope, not leaving. Josh: H-help, he’s got me! I’m unable to fight without a tome, I’ll be of no use to him! Rolling her eyes, Chelle looks to Signele, sighing when she sees the older version of her friend give her an unsure look in response. Chelle: I guess I’m staying behind then. Please tell me you remember the way to Onaw. Signele: I can’t say I remember, but… Transforming into a dragon, Maggie flies above the forest layer, scopes out where the capital city rests upon its rocky pedestal, and comes back to the group. Maggie: If she doesn’t remember, I’ll lead the way. Kayla, wanna ride on me again? Kayla: I’d…rather not, thanks. Maggie: Suit yourself! Group, onward! Taking Maggie’s lead, everyone departs, minus the three Taguel and Josh, who is still being held in place by Blake. Signele: What are you going to do here, guys? Die? Chelle: Not planning on it. Blake: Wait for reinforcements, kill anyone who dares attack, the usual. Chelle: Okay, I’m not planning on dying. Him? He so is. Signele: Please make it to Onaw okay. I can’t lose you two. Her voice drops off, although she mouths the word “again” at the end of her sentence. Blake: As if you could lose us. We’re fighting for the whole family. Signele: That’s what I like to hear. You two should be, will be fine. I’m sure. Now let go of my mage and let me and him get back to our friends. Chelle: You heard her. Let go of that guy. The second Josh is freed from Blake’s grasp, he runs to Signele’s side, and she laughs. Signele: Knew making you ride him would be a good choice. Now let’s catch up to everyone else, before we fall too far behind. Josh: I wouldn’t argue against that sound logic, don’t worry. They depart, leaving the two natives there among the trees, waiting for the intruders to make their appearance. For several minutes, their decision to hang back for fighting purposes seems to be a bad one, but before either of them can suggest to move on out, rustling in the trees stops them. Chelle: Looks like company’s here. You ready? Blake: Ready as ever. She transforms into her Taguel form, him unfastening his swords from his back, instantly becoming a mounted Swordmaster. Three people come into their view, all of which are strangers to the two. Oddly, only one seems to be bearing a weapon, an axe, while the other two scribble into books. Aidan: Oh great, natives. Hello, kind inhabitants of The Domain. We are here to make maps. Red: Just passing through. Normal: And killing things! The third one, the one brandishing the weapon, waves it a bit. Normal: We ransacked a village thing, that was pretty cool. Chelle: They’re the ones responsible! Blake: What are you waiting for then? Charge! She lunges at the three, Blake waving his swords at them to threaten them into an easy retreat. However, when they get close, the middle one raises his map to show them what they’re really doing. Red: Ignore him. We’re not here to murder. We’re here to make maps. Aidan: Maps that we’ve been given explicit permission to make, at that. Blake: Like hell I’ll believe that! Invade our home and expect to come out alive? Chelle: Kill them! They charge again, the blades flying faster than anyone can retaliate, but when they back away, no damage has been done to any of the people standing there. Red: Is that a—you’ve destroyed the map. True to his word, the paper he’s been holding has been shredded, and it falls to the ground. Red: You bastard, we’ve been working hard on that! Come on men, let’s show these two our real business here. He pulls out a tome and opens to a page, casting some level of a wind spell that doesn’t do much more than pick up dead leaves and push the two Taguel back a bit. Aidan: We’re here for maps, not fighting, but understood. Putting his own map away, he grabs his axe from where it’s strapped to his back. Aidan: Everyone always said I was the best at fighting, anyway. Normal: I’ll make you eat those words! I’m the best! It’s an unfair battle situation, three people against one, but Blake has the upper hand as he not only has Chelle to move him around, but he also has knowledge of the terrain they’re currently fighting on. Every time he gets backed into a corner, they head off into a new direction, leaving the humans to have to follow them without a clue as to where they’re headed. Slowly, with little bloodshed from either group, they trek closer and closer to Onaw, to the rocky ridge where the trees stop and the raised ground that the capital is built on towers over them. When they escape the forest, groups of warriors from inside the city are waiting, having been alerted to the intruders by Lizze as she ran into the city by herself, followed by the group of time-travelers. The other group that had split from them, having reached Onaw minutes before Lizze did, reconvened with their allies, sans Chelle and Blake, up in the city’s center, waiting to know if the other two survived. Karts and Lucas, having also made it to the city, see their three companions and join them, unaware that the massive army of The Domain is standing there to battle them all. People are in various beast forms, others are all brandishing weapons, and the five are left to face them and explain not just what they’ve done, but what they’re doing there on the island, a task that would be much easier if Gideon was with them at the moment. Rather than explain their purpose though, they fight. Although outnumbered, they have enough time to land a few blows on people who approach them with malicious intent, only making the rest of the army start more attacks. It would be a glorious sight to see, the intruders taking on the core of The Domain’s strength, if there weren’t more important things for the group to be doing in Onaw, something they’re reminded of when Lizze rejoins them. Lizze: The other leaders would like to speak with you all. To hear what happened. Signele: They would, wouldn’t they? Lizze: Well, yeah, you’d think that— She doesn’t realize until she hears the flapping of wings behind her that Signele’s question had been a sarcastic one. Turning around, Lizze and the others see that three women have come to join them, two on mounts of their own and one brandishing a sword before her, primed to attack. Lizze: —they’d follow me out to meet you on their terms. My new friends, friends from a different time, please meet Jen’wa, Ky’la, and Cassie. My fellow rulers of The Domain. The first, up on her pegasus, bows her head at the introduction. Jen’wa: Any friend of Lizze’s is a friend of ours. It is a pleasure to meet all of you, even if the circumstances of your visit are simultaneously confusing and saddening. The second, lowering her sword, also bows her head. Ky’la: If we had known that opening our borders to mapmakers would result in senseless deaths, so soon after the rebellion, we would have given it a second thought. The third, riding a wyvern, doesn’t bow her head, but instead lands and steps onto the ground, kneeling to the group. Cassie: At the very least, accept our apologies and our desire to fix things for everyone. Lizze: Girls, I said there didn’t need to be dramatics. Leanne and Signele…and other Signele and all her friends, they understand you aren’t responsible for what happened. Chelle and Blake, they might take a bit more explaining to for them to get it, but… Cassie: Blake’s here? Oh goodness, and his family is your family, isn’t it? He’s going to be furious when he speaks to us! She hops back on her wyvern and ascends once more, Maggie watching her intently as she flies off into the army’s fray in search of the sword-using Taguel. Maggie: She’s young-looking like me. Manakete? Signele: Yeah, she’s a Manakete all right. They’re all beasts of some form. Maggie: Hm, maybe I’ve met her somewhere along the way… Leanne: (Don’t know why they’d put another one of those in power, not after the last one…) Lizze: (Don’t be rude about Cassie under your breath, Leanne.) Having been called out, Leanne’s eyes go wide and she covers her face with her ears, Pika laughing at the display even though she didn’t know what had been said to start it. Ky’la: At any rate, Cassie will certainly go off on reconnaissance to the main land to see if we can get an explanation to what’s happened, as well as research for who the intruders really are. We cannot allow mass murders like this to happen on our land. Jen’wa: Whoa, don’t get so heavy with murder talk. These guys must have felt threatened, even if they weren’t, and attacked because that’s what humans do. Kayla: (Their ears aren’t like human ears. Not like Taguel or Manakete ears either.) Joanne: (Indeed, Lizze had told me that they were different kinds of shapeshifters.) Stepping between the two ladies, the younger Signele grabs them both. Young Signele: Come on, ask stuff out loud! Whispering’s rude! Bohl: Okay, question to be asked if small rabbit wants it! What is with the leaders and the funny spots of hair their heads wear? Josh: Er, what he means to ask is, what kinds of ears are those? Bohl: My question was correctly asked, Father. Josh: You could have confused her. Young Signele: Uh, well, Jen’wa is a Wolfskin and Ky’la is a Kitsune, they’re just other kinds of animal shapeshifters. Ones that don’t like transforming, clearly. Jen’wa: Lizze, that obnoxious sister of yours is expositioning again. Lizze: She does that, just ignore her. Joos: Signele, you never told us that there were those kinds of people here. Signele: Never came up. Kind of a touchy subject, remember? Jayde: But Mom, why couldn’t you have gotten with someone like that? Couldn’t you imagine me being two kinds of beast? Signele: …Okay, moving on. We’ve come all this way from our time for something and we need to figure out what that is. Ky’la: You speak of time travel. Perhaps letting us know of the results of today will jog your memory as to what you should be doing? Signele: I…don’t know. She bites her lip as she thinks about what she should say. Looking between Joos and Jayde, both of whom are waiting for her to say the expected “oh yeah, everyone here dies in a matter of time,” she’s hesitant to say anything at all, until: Signele: We’re here to save you from what’s about to happen. Jen’wa: Something’s about to happen? What is it? Her mind running a mile a minute as she comes up with a story, she quickly concocts a reply. Signele: They’re going to break through the army and attempt to kill you all. Ky’la: I’d like to see them try! Without a second’s hesitation, she runs off towards the crowd, most likely to join Cassie, Blake, and Chelle on their defense. This move, however, makes Jen’wa shake her head, flying her pegasus a bit higher over the group standing there, Jen’wa: Come on, we can’t kill them without showing diplomacy first! Lizze: You going to do something about this? Jen’wa: Oh yeah. Everyone, pardon your first impression of me being me calling up some seriously wrong magic. Josh: “Wrong” magic? There’s such a thing? Kayla: Dark magic, but that’s not really wrong… Up above, Jen’wa pulls out a tome that looks like it’s seen better days, opening to one of the last pages and performing an incantation, casting a spell in the general direction of the army and the intruders. As everyone watches, the magic manifests itself into a robe-wearing figure, one that has pointed ears that are seen through specially-cut holes in the hood. Lizze: Of all the figures, you’ve called her? Jen’wa: They’ll listen to a dictator still. We’re a leadership in progress. She cups her mouth, one furry hand glowing with the same color magic the manifestation radiates with. When she speaks, the words don’t come from her mouth or with her voice; in fact, the ethereal being over the army does the speaking, and after two words of greeting, Lizze is cowering back with her sisters, all three of the Taguel (and the older Signele as well, although she’s thrown herself into Joos’ arms for the moment) looking in horror at what Jen’wa has unleashed. Leanne: That’s…that’s Tainted. Young Signele: B-but she’s dead! Lizze: Jen’wa thinks that she’s the only way anyone will listen. Tainted: Creatures of The Domain, young and old, please drop your weapons and cease attacking our visitors from the mainland. In the crowd, a single voice is raised in opposition, while all the men in the mapmaking party eagerly nod in agreement to the words. Chelle: They killed the members of a Taguel family without reason! You’re going to show them pity? Tainted: My way was to kill everyone. This is no longer my continent to rule, this is no longer a place operating under such barbaric rules. Drop the weapons. Chelle: Whoever’s doing that, you’re really abusing power! After a few moments, during which people are transforming and weapons are hitting the ground, the apparition of Tainted speaks again. Tainted: All visitors and royalty alike, please meet in the castle’s main hall for introductions and discussion of what has happened. Everyone who has been made to suffer from what has happened, please wait around until those discussions have ceased. As the apparition disappears and Jen’wa comes back down with everyone else, they see Cassie and Ky’la coming back, following them all seven members of the mapmakers, Gideon and Audi having joined sometime in the middle of things. Jen’wa: See, that wasn’t so bad. Everyone, follow me. They head off, Lizze tagging along as she knew she was supposed to. Not long after they disappear into the heart of Onaw, Chelle and Blake come to the group, both looking disappointed in what has happened. Chelle: And we couldn’t kill anyone because…? Leanne: Because our leader said so, that’s why. Chelle: Lame reason, but I’ll accept it. Blake: Cleaning up the home’s going to be a mess, and we’re not allowed to kill them for what they did? Young Signele: Hey, an eye for an eye isn’t right here, don’t you think? She turns to her older self and smiles. Young Signele: Old me, it’s not like not killing them’s going to matter, right? Signele: …Yeah, it doesn’t matter. Young Signele: That’s what I thought! Leanne: Of course she’d say that, though. She doesn’t want to ruin the future for us. Signele: That’s not it, but okay. Chelle: As if anything would happen to any of us. You’re going to go home after this and tell us all you saw little us all over again, aren’t you? On the verge of tears, Signele nods. Signele: Yeah, sure am. Why don’t we, uh, go say our goodbyes now so I can get on doing that sometime soon? The other Taguels, all looking amongst each other, shrug and link up arm-in-arm, heading down into the city, while leaving the others to stand around and look at the scenery. It’s been a wild ride for everyone, some more than others. ---- “Well, what happens after this?” Kayla asked, looking around the capital city with awestruck eyes. “The city wasn’t destroyed. The Domain gets to live, doesn’t it?” A murmur broke out in the group asking that single question over and over, prompting the final curious question: what happens to The Domain after what went down in Onaw? No one got an answer until Signele rejoined them, tears drying on her cheeks from having said farewell to her friends and family one last time. When the question was posed to her, her first reaction was to smile, only to end up crying again. “We find peace for a few years, until the maps are used to systematically murder us all,” she said, leading the group of Shepherds back down from the mountains and into the forests. “But I’m sure that no one wants to hear that story after this ‘great’ triumph here.” “Signele, we’re here because we wanted to hear the story. The whole story, hard parts and all.” Joos gave her a small hug, one that she brushed off without a word, leading him to sigh. “Please, you can’t leave us all hanging like this. We know they don’t live. But how does it happen after this?” She took a few deep breaths, readying herself to speak, but Jayde interrupted her before she got a word out. “Come on, mom, we didn’t fight alongside all those cool Taguel just to not hear how they end up!” “Three years from now, Grimleal following the maps intrude in on our home,” Signele finally started with a wobbling voice, “and they kill a fair number of the older population. My parents, protecting us children, die at the hands of the criminals. Leanne, Chelle, and I swear we’ll not let their deaths, and the deaths of the others, be in vain. “Within a year, there’s another attack on Onaw, with mass casualties in terms of general population. The leaders frame it as a mass suicide of lingering followers of Tainted, but we know. We know it’s because of the mapmakers’ endeavor.” She bit her lip in thought before continuing. “The invasions and murders continue for years. Numbers dwindling of all natives, not just the Taguel, we all move from our homes to Onaw, where Lizze and the leaders insist they’ll keep us safe.” “Clearly they don’t, if you’re the only survivor of this land,” Josh commented, earning glares from a few of his companions. “What? I am merely making an observation. No need to get offended by my words.” But, as she tends to do, Signele got offended, and snapped, “They tried their damn hardest to protect us, but when Esh-Ban came, he was too much for them to stop. Too much for Lizze, too much for the others. For all of them.” “You made it out though, mom. If he was too much to stop, how could you have done that?” Jayde spoke the question that was on everyone’s mind, minus Pika’s (and even still, she shifted uncomfortably at the words). “Were you taken captive? Traded away to survive?” Signele looked around at her friends, her lip quickly becoming a chew toy as she contemplated how to answer. When she did speak, it was to retell the part of the story she’d told several times before. “Esh-Ban came into Onaw with a purpose, a mission. Claimed we as a collective whole were too weak to survive. Our leaders fought him and his men valiantly, but they had weapons to counter us all, to kill us quickly. I watched as they killed the rulers of my country, these ladies I’d begun to consider my sisters. “When they attacked and killed Lizze, her last words were for all of us to flee, to escape no matter how we did it. Chelle, with Blake by her side, chose to fight the men there as a distraction, to allow me and Leanne, as well as any lonely souls we could find, to break from the city and make a dash for the sea.” The wavering in her voice became too much to ignore, but she continued on. “All beasts remained in fighting mode, fending off any Grimleal we found. Humans who lost their mounts rode on our backs to allow us all to flee as fast as we could manage.” “And when you got to the shore, there were Grimleal everywhere,” Pika said, knowing the following part of the story herself. “So rather than fighting, you fled from them as well, trying to find safe passage to the main continent, when—“ “The riders turned traitor and killed Leanne, killed my sister, right beside me.” The words were choked out, Signele barely able to retell it again. “I threw my rider off, scared to meet my sister’s fate, and ran as fast as I could into the water like a coward! Everyone else who fled Onaw was murdered in the forest and on the beach, led there and left there to die alone by me, the world’s biggest coward!” Having finished her story, she broke down into inconsolable crying, her companions beginning to wrap her up in a giant hug. The lone person to remain out of the hug was Bohl, who looked around at their lush island surroundings where they stood. “This is not a home of cowards,” he mused, reaching for the closest plant. “It’s rather a home of brave rabbit warriors.” “And brave dragon warriors!” Maggie chimed in from somewhere within the hug. “And some brave human warriors too! But it’s, most importantly, the home of the bravest warrior of them all!” Signele tried pushing everyone away, to no avail. “I’m not brave for escaping my culture’s genocide. I should have died there on the beach with Leanne. Instead, I had to live with the guilt that they all died and I didn’t, through all the meetings with different leaders of different places and…” “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Signele. You survived to let their story live on in all of us,” Joanne said, her voice soft in the mess known as the group hug. “You told us about them and they came to life before our very eyes, and now they have impacted each and every person present for your story.” “Plus, now I know how kickass the sister I look like was, so that’s cool.” Laughing, Pika was surprised to get the smallest of smiles to appear on Signele’s tear-covered face. “Oh, do you like hearing me think that?” “I do, actually. Leanne should have been the one of us to live, not me, but now since you know how she was, sort of, you can make that judgment for yourselves.” Signele’s smile quickly faded, despite everyone saying that they would always prefer having her around rather than anyone else. “It’s just all talk, you guys. You really would have loved her more.” “No, I don’t think so.” Bringing his arms around her the tightest out of anyone, Joos rested his head on Signele’s and sighed. “You’re the only Taguel from The Domain we could ever want, despite what you might think. Now let’s find our way back home before we’re actually noticed being gone, shall we?” The hug dispersed and everyone started walking once more, idle chatter about the adventure they’d had breaking out from time to time. Eventually, the plants go back to ones more familiar, and they realize they were back where they belonged once more. When they got to where they’ve been staying, the group went their separate ways, all eager to share the word of The Domain with everyone else. The only exception to that was Signele, as she watched everyone take off before heading back into the forest by herself. When she came back after sunset, it was clear she’d been crying again, but no one asked her what was on her mind as by then they all knew. They’d all heard the full story about how the genocide that destroyed her continent started long before Esh-Ban was involved. About how it started with some mapmakers and their conquest of The Domain. > Days of Future Past Current Party The Shepherds *Signele. Taguel. Last surviving inhabitant of The Domain. Also a giant bunny sometimes. *Joos. Grandmaster. A traveler with no memory of the past, but a gift for tactics. *Maggie. Manakete. An innocent Manakete with a penchant for theatrics. *Pika. Sniper. A peppy Shepherd, always ready to follow her Tactician's command. *Kayla. Mage. A hyperactive mage who can't wait to prove herself as more than just a kid. *Josh. Sage. A meticulous, methodical Shepherd with just a bit of whimsy. *Joanne. Cavalier. A quiet knight who waits for the perfect moment to speak up. Future Children *Jayde. Taguel. A hyperactive Taguel obsessed with the goal of making the species thrive. *Bohl. Mage. A confusing youth with incredible intelligence and not so great speech patterns. The Mapmakers *Gideon. Great Knight. A well-traveled knight with the desire for one last hurrah before retirement. *Audi. Falcon Knight. Claims to be a kind soul, but seems to be not what she claims at all, particularly in battle. *Aidan. War Monk. A decent healer, but likes to show off his skill with his axe more. *Lucas. Hero. A braggart and a bit of a flirt, with no sense of knowing when to stop, even in battle. *Karts. Trickster. A strange fellow who claims to be able to fight, but only seems to know how to be a nuisance. *Red. Sage. A man with magical and healing prowess who truly focuses on his mapmaking task. *Normal. Warrior. A fighter dedicated to battle, but only ever seems to show up when unneeded. Information *This xenologue was posted to the Total Drama Writer's Forum here . Category:Story Category:DLC Category:Xenologues